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Elon Musk, Sergey Brin May Fund Permanent Burning Man City

A report in New York magazine says Elon Musk and Sergey Brin may be willing to put up the $10 million needed to construct a permanent Burning Man City.

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10 years ago

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Burning Man [Source: Victor Grigas via Wikipedia]

Burning Man [Source: Victor Grigas via Wikipedia]

There are rumors that Elon Musk and Sergey Brin may be willing to fund the construction of a permanent Burning Man city in Nevada. According to a story in New York Magazine, Musk and Brin toured the 4,000 acre Fly Ranch site in the northern Nevada desert after attending the Burning Man event in 2014. The pair is said to be interested in putting up the $10,000,000 needed to buy the land and construct a permanent city.

Elon Musk may be interested in funding a permanent Burning Man City

Burning Man insignia

One of the original Burning Man architects has created plans for a “Burning Man Fly Ranch city, a mix of homes and communal spaces built to blend into the desert,” the magazine article says. “According to one plan, Fly Ranch buildings would be made with unpainted, rammed earth and sod. No fences would be allowed, and all members of the community could either build homesteads or buy into a communal village.”

Festival co-founder Will Roger says that “tech titans” share his vision of creating an “experiment in a permanent community,” though he never specifies who the tech titans are or directly addresses the rumor about Brin and Musk being potential investors. Brin’s partner at Google, Larry Page, once made the case publicly for setting aside “a part of the world” for technology experiments that would not be constrained by bureaucracy. In fact, he cited Burning Man as a model for such a place.

The Burning Man event grew out of a summer solstice celebration on Baker Beach in San Francisco in 1986 when Larry Harvey, Jerry James, and a few friends burned a 9 foot tall wooden man as a spontaneous act of “radical self-expression.” Today, more than 50,000 people make the annual trek to the clothing-optional retreat in the Black Rock Desert.

Participants are prohibited from cash transactions at the site in honor of what the organizers term “decommodification”. People are warned to bring what they need to subsist in the harsh desert environment. There are no vendors for food, beverages or any of the other trappings of society that some might think of as being necessary.

The organization’s website extols the virtues of “radical self-expression.” which it says “arises from the unique gifts of the individual. No one other than the individual or a collaborating group can determine its content. It is offered as a gift to others. In this spirit, the giver should respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.”

The notion of expanding the Burning Man experiment into a permanent city has been floating around for some time and that’s precisely the kind of idea that would intrigue Elon Musk. After all, he is the most prominent exponent today of thinking creatively and inventing new ways of catering to the needs of the human race. He is the one who dreams at night of space colonies on Mars or showing the world how to wean itself from its habit of burning fossil fuels.

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If there is any substance to the rumor of a permanent Burning Man City, it would be natural for Elon to be part of it.

Sources: New York Magazine
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Elon Musk seemingly confirms Cybertruck gift to 13-year-old cancer fighter

Diagnosed in 2018 with a rare form of brain and spine cancer with no cure, the teen has undergone 13 surgeries by the time he was 12.

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2 weeks ago

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March 6, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk has seemingly confirmed that he will be sending a Tesla Cybertruck to 13-year-old Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, a 13-year-old Houston boy fighting brain cancer. The teen was recognized as an honorary Secret Service member by U.S. President Donald Trump during his address to Congress on Tuesday. 

A Chance Meeting

The Tesla CEO’s Cybertruck pledge was mentioned during DJ’s short interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. When Collins asked the 13-year-old what he told the Tesla CEO, DJ answered that he asked for a Cybertruck.

“I said, ‘can you do me a big favor, when you get back to Houston can you send us a Cybertruck down there?’” the cancer fighter stated.

Daniel noted that Musk responded positively to his request, which was highlighted by Collins in a post on X. Musk responded to the post with a heart emoji, suggesting that he really will be sending a Cybertruck to the 13-year-old cancer fighter.

Teen’s Cancer Battle Inspires

Diagnosed in 2018 with a rare form of brain and spine cancer with no cure, Daniel has undergone 13 surgeries by the time he was 12. During his speech, Trump highlighted the 13-year-old’s long battle with his disease. 

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“Joining us in the gallery tonight is a young man who truly loves our police. The doctors gave him five months at most to live. That was more than six years ago. Since that time, DJ and his dad have been on a quest to make his dream come true,” Trump stated.

Daniels officially received an honorary badge from U.S. Secret Service Director Sean Curran, to much applause during the event.

Surprisingly Partisan

While Daniels’ story has been inspiring, Trump’s focus on the 13-year-old cancer fighter has received its own fair share of criticism. MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, while referencing Daniels’ love for law enforcement, noted that she is hoping the 13-year-old never has to defend the U.S. capitol against Trump supporters. “If he does, I hope he isn’t one of the six who loses his life to suicide,” Wallace stated.

Anti-Musk and Trump accounts on X have also thrown jokes at the cancer fighter’s honorary badge, with some dubbing the 13-year-old as a “DEI hire” that should be looked into by DOGE.

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Tesla owner highlights underrated benefit of FSD Supervised

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2 months ago

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January 31, 2025

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Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk has been pretty open about the idea of FSD being the difference maker for Tesla’s future.

If Tesla succeeds in achieving FSD, it could become the world’s most valuable company. If it doesn’t, then the company would not be able to reach its optimum potential.

FSD Supervised’s safety benefits:

  • But even if FSD is still not perfect today, FSD Supervised is already making a difference on the roads today.
  • This was highlighted in Tesla’s Q4 2024 Vehicle Safety Report.
  • As per Tesla, it recorded one crash for every 5.94 million miles driven in which drivers were using Autopilot technology.
  • For comparison, the most recent data available from the NHTSA and FHWA (from 2023) showed that there was one automobile crash every 702,000 miles in the United States. 

FSD user’s tale:

  • As per an FSD user’s post on social media platform X, FSD Supervised was able to help him drive a relative to a medical facility safely even if he was exhausted.
  • During the trip, the driver only had to monitor FSD Supervised’s performance to make sure the Tesla operated safely.
  • In a vehicle without FSD, such a trip with an exhausted driver would have been quite dangerous. 
  • “This morning, Tesla FSD proved to be an absolute godsend. I had to take my brother-in-law to the hospital in Sugar Land, TX, which is 40 miles away, at the ungodly hour of 4 AM. Both of us were exhausted, and he was understandably anxious about the surgery.
  • “The convenience of sending the hospital’s address directly from my iPhone to my Tesla while still inside my house, then just a single button press once inside, and 40 miles later we were precisely in front of the hospital’s admissions area.This experience really underscores just how transformative this technology can be for society,” Tesla owner JC Christopher noted in his post.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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Tesla Optimus “stars” in incredible fanmade action short film

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2 months ago

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January 14, 2025

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Credit: @SoKrispyMedia/YouTube

There are few things that prove an enthusiast’s love towards a company more than a dedicated short film. This was highlighted recently when YouTube’s SoKrispyMedia posted a 10-minute action movie starring Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, as well as several of the company’s most iconic products. 

The video: 

  • Shot like a Hollywood action flick, the video featured a rather humorous plot involving a group of thieves that mistakenly targeted a Tesla Model 3 driver. 
  • The Model 3 driver then ended up speaking to Tesla for assistance, and some high-octane and high-speed hijinks ensued.
  • While the short film featured several Tesla products like the Model 3, Superchargers, and the Cybertruck, it is Optimus that truly stole the show.
  • Optimus served several roles in the short film, from an assistant in a Tesla office to a “robocop” enforcer that helped out the Model 3 driver.

Cool inside jokes: 

  • The best Tesla videos are those that show an in-depth knowledge of the company, and SoKrispyMedia definitely had it. 
  • From the opening scenes alone, the video immediately poked fun at TSLA traders, the large number of gray Tesla owners, and the fact that many still do not understand Superchargers.
  • The video even poked fun at Tesla’s software updates, as well as how some Tesla drivers use Autopilot or other features without reading the fine print in the company’s release notes.
  • The video ended with a tour de force of references to Elon Musk products, from the Tesla Cybertruck to the Boring Company Not-a-Flamethrower, which was released back in 2018.

Check out SoKrispyMedia’s Tesla action short film in the video below.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with news tips. Just send a message to simon@teslarati.com to give us a heads up.

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